Pentagon to release secret codename of anti-ISIS operation

Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
2 minute read
Updated 4:59 PM EDT, Mon October 13, 2014
An F/A-18E Super Hornet from the Sunliners of Strike Fighter Squadron 81 taxis onto a catapult before launching from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.
An F/A-18E Super Hornet from the Sunliners of Strike Fighter Squadron 81 taxis onto a catapult before launching from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson.
John Philip Wagner, Jr/U.S. Navy
An F-15E Strike Eagle was designed for long-range, high-speed interdiction without relying on escort or electronic warfare aircraft. It was derived from the F-15 Eagle, which was developed to enhance U.S. air superiority during the Vietnam War.
An F-15E Strike Eagle was designed for long-range, high-speed interdiction without relying on escort or electronic warfare aircraft. It was derived from the F-15 Eagle, which was developed to enhance U.S. air superiority during the Vietnam War.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
A F-22 Raptor flies over Marietta, Georgia, home of the Lockheed Martin plant where it was built. The F-22 is the only fighter capable of simultaneously conducting air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions.
A F-22 Raptor flies over Marietta, Georgia, home of the Lockheed Martin plant where it was built. The F-22 is the only fighter capable of simultaneously conducting air-to-air and air-to-ground combat missions.
Lockheed Martin/Getty Images
F-16 Fighting Falcons are parked at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center in Tucson, Arizona, on December 11, 2004. General Dynamics (which was later sold to Lockheed) delivered the U.S. Air Force its first F-16As in 1979. More than 4,500 of the fighters have been built, and they are used by more than 20 nations in addition to the United States.
F-16 Fighting Falcons are parked at the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center in Tucson, Arizona, on December 11, 2004. General Dynamics (which was later sold to Lockheed) delivered the U.S. Air Force its first F-16As in 1979. More than 4,500 of the fighters have been built, and they are used by more than 20 nations in addition to the United States.
Melanie Stetson Freeman/The Christian Science Monitor/Getty Images
A F-35C conducts a test flight over the Chesapeake Bay on February 11, 2011. Inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered after a runway fire at Eglin Air Force Base on June 23. The F-35 Lightning II has been beset by delays and cost overruns in the years since its introduction.
A F-35C conducts a test flight over the Chesapeake Bay on February 11, 2011. Inspections of F-35 engines have been ordered after a runway fire at Eglin Air Force Base on June 23. The F-35 Lightning II has been beset by delays and cost overruns in the years since its introduction.
U.S. Navy photo courtesy Lockheed Martin/Getty Images
An A-10 Thunderbolt II from the 52nd Fighter Wing, 81st Fighter Squadron, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, in flight during a NATO Operation Allied Force combat mission.
An A-10 Thunderbolt II from the 52nd Fighter Wing, 81st Fighter Squadron, Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, in flight during a NATO Operation Allied Force combat mission.
U.S. Air Force/FIle
An F/A-18 Hornet is pictured aboard the USS George H.W. Bush on May 19, 2009. The F/A-18 Hornet, a late-'70s contemporary of the Air Force's F-16 Fighting Falcon, became the workhorse of U.S. carrier-based air power and still supplements the Navy's and Marines' more current fleet of F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets. It is designed as both a fighter and an attack aircraft.
An F/A-18 Hornet is pictured aboard the USS George H.W. Bush on May 19, 2009. The F/A-18 Hornet, a late-'70s contemporary of the Air Force's F-16 Fighting Falcon, became the workhorse of U.S. carrier-based air power and still supplements the Navy's and Marines' more current fleet of F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets. It is designed as both a fighter and an attack aircraft.
U.S. Navy/Getty Images
Pilots perform daily flight checks on their F-5E/F Tiger aircraft in Key West, Florida, on January 7, 2005. The Vietnam-era aircraft -- one of several offshoots of the original Northrup F-5s that went into service in the early 1960s -- is used to simulate adversary aircraft in training.
Pilots perform daily flight checks on their F-5E/F Tiger aircraft in Key West, Florida, on January 7, 2005. The Vietnam-era aircraft -- one of several offshoots of the original Northrup F-5s that went into service in the early 1960s -- is used to simulate adversary aircraft in training.
Trice Denny/U.S Navy
A AV-8B Harrier lands on board the USS Nassau on April 14, 1999, after a strike mission into Kosovo. The AV-8B Harrier is a single-engine ground-attack aircraft capable of vertical or short takeoff and landing. Though production of the aircraft ceased in 2003, the U.S. Marine Corps is looking at systems enhancements and plans to continue using Harriers well into the next decade.
A AV-8B Harrier lands on board the USS Nassau on April 14, 1999, after a strike mission into Kosovo. The AV-8B Harrier is a single-engine ground-attack aircraft capable of vertical or short takeoff and landing. Though production of the aircraft ceased in 2003, the U.S. Marine Corps is looking at systems enhancements and plans to continue using Harriers well into the next decade.
U.S. Navy/Getty Images
U.S. military's fighter fleet

Story highlights

The Pentagon has selected a codename for the anti-ISIS military effort

The codename has not yet been released, but will be in the near future

Washington CNN  — 

The military operation against ISIS now does have a name but the Pentagon is not expected to reveal it until later this week, a U.S. official confirms to CNN. The name will not be made public until a formal ‘execution order’ covering the entire mission against ISIS is published by the Defense Department’s Joint Staff perhaps as soon as Wednesday,

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Naming the operation is a fairly bureaucratic matter, but it is typically done in large scale or significant military operations as a means of providing a mechanism for everything from budgeting of funds to awarding of medals. The execution order will spell out these details, as well as potential command arrangements, and a formal military definition of the mission.

The order is not expected to be made public until after a Tuesday meeting of about 20 international chiefs of defense staff from members of the coalition meet in Washington behind closed doors to discuss the way ahead in the coalition, the official said.

On the issue of the name, the official said the military has made sure the name is acceptable in languages other than English so it does not cause offense when translated.

Much has already been made of the name of the enemy. President Obama and the U.S. Government call the group ISIL – Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. CNN has been referring to the organization as ISIS, shorthand for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Related: ISIS, ISIL or the Islamic State